LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: May 5, 2019

Saturday

(CLARIFICATION: The author of the following letter is not West Augustine resident and community advocate Gregory “Greg” B. White.)

EDITOR: The ages old institution of slavery existed in most of St. Augustine's long and diverse history, and reminders of it can be seen all over town today including the old fort and many historic buildings. Yet the elected local “leadership” continues to debate the removal of the Confederate War Memorial, erected by local citizens to simply honor local dead from the recent American Civil War, a conflict that took the lives of nearly 700,000 Americans. Having the names of relatives inscribed on that monument, I see no objectionable or offensive language accompanying the names of the war dead.

If the war was fought to end slavery, why was slavery still practiced in four states that remained in the Union? Why was a fifth state — West Virginia — added to the Union as a slave state on June 20, 1863, nearly six months after Lincoln's grossly misunderstood Emancipation Proclamation became effective — which only freed slaves in territories conquered by the Union military in an effort to weaken the Southern economy and resolve to wage war?

Buried at Tolomato Cemetery is Jean Pierre Augustin Verot, first Bishop of the St. Augustine diocese, and often referenced as the “Rebel Bishop.” In 1861 Bishop Verot gave a sermon defending Southern rights and slavery's legal basis; while condemning the abolition movement. After the war he asked of his parishioners to “put away all prejudice... their former servants.”

Anthony Welters and Isaac Papino are buried at San Lorenzo Cemetery, and honored with government markers denoting their military service to the Confederacy. Both men were Americans of African descent. Since the above mentioned residents of St. Augustine don't fit the narrative the City Commission wants to advance for St. Augustine, perhaps they should all be disinterred and buried elsewhere. The old fort and other notable buildings should be demolished so some people aren't reminded of the institution that erected those structures.

The voters of St. Augustine need to apply pressure to the current commissioners and demand some backbone against a race-hustling “minister” trying to make a name for himself at the expense of local history. If Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. were still living today, I doubt he'd be wasting his time and energy trying to remove inanimate monuments when there are real issues to confront.

Gregory White, St. Augustine

Growth outpacing schools

EDITOR: The recent article in The Record regarding the population boom in St. Johns County should be a concern to every county resident. With thousands of homes approved but not yet built, the county will sink under its own weight. Already public services are overstretched and underfunded.

My concern is our public school system. For the last five years I have been a volunteer in the Read Out Loud program at Ocean Palms Elementary School. This year I followed one teacher to the new Palm Valley Academy, built to serve kindergarten through eighth grade. This year the school has students from kindergarten through sixth grade — with seventh grade to be added for 2019 and eighth grade in 2020.

The problem is the school was built to a capacity of 1,400 plus students and this year the attendance was over 1,200 students. A school official confirmed to me that next year the school will need satellite classrooms in only the second year of existence.

One only has to observe the residential building going on in and around Nocatee to see the Palm Valley Academy is already in big trouble. It is inconceivable to me that the school board is so shortsighted as to build a school that will be almost at capacity on opening day.

Add to this, the fact that St. Johns County public school teachers are among the most underpaid teachers in the state and you have an education emergency and it is only going to get worse. We boast the best schools in the state and the lowest paid teachers in the state.

Bottom line, the education experience for our public school children can only suffer.

Rick Mansfield, Ponte Vedra Beach

San Marco/May intersection going nowhere — fast

EDITOR: Please bear with me and review the following facts gleaned from Wikipedia and other sources concerning the ALCAN Highway:

-Personnel involved included 11,000 American troops and 16,000 Canadian and American civilians

I realize 27,000 people were involved in the construction of the highway: but remember, they were using equipment that was available in 1942, not 2018-19, and the road was constructed through the Canadian wilderness. The temperature could, and did, reach minus-40 degrees and the living conditions were at best, primitive.

Given the above, here is my question.

Why has it taken the Florida Department of Transportation more than a year to:

-Alter the intersection of May Street & San Marco Avenue

-Construct some sidewalks

-Install storm drainage pipes

-Total distance, 1,000 feet?

-Temperature range- 38° - 95° F.

-Excavated material- Sand

My wife and I, as are many readers, frequently in a traffic jam that extends from the intersection of May Street and San Marco across the entire length of the Vilano Bridge and north onto Route A1A. More often than not, while waiting at the traffic signal during the day or night, we have observed not a single person working. Why? It isn’t like they are waiting for explosives to blast away rock, or build a bridge across a river, or construct a tunnel under a mountain. They are moving sand!

Gene G. Suskalo, Vilano Beach

No fees for residents

EDITOR: My vote is no fees for residents of St. Johns County. Have residents get a residency sticker for their car. If tourism is up as much as is published, make it a non-resident fee.

My husband and I grew up in Fruit Cove and we have lived here 25 years now.

Debra and Charles Newton, Julington Creek

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.

Stay Connected

Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted.
The St. Augustine Record ~ One News Place, St. Augustine, FL 32086 ~ Privacy Policy ~ Terms Of Service